It is already known, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 2,682,466, that a simulated meat product with some of the firmness and bite characteristics of natural cooked meat can be obtained by impregnating a tow of neutralised spun protein fibres with a heat coagulable binding agent followed by heat treatment.
It is further known for example from the same United States patent, to pass thick bundles of impregnated fibres through a molten fat bath just before combination into the final product, so as to obtain an improvement in the flavour and texture of the simulated meat product. This action results in the uptake of a considerable quantity of fat and, particularly where the fibre bundle diameter is of the order of 1-2 mm, the fat uptake approaches the weight of the fibre bundles themselves with the result that an unpleasant, plastic-textured, fatty-tasting product is obtained on baking. On canning and sterilising, this high fat content separates from the meat chunks and forms an unacceptably thick fat layer at the head-space end of the can.
United Kingdom Pat. No. 1,304,804 describes products more closely simulating the texture and structure of cooked natural meat which are prepared by heat setting the surface of bundles of impregnated oriented protein fibres and then subjecting a plurality of such bundles simultaneously to heat and compressive forces.